God Damn Cell Phones
by Mewkey
Summary: O/E. Started as a 1-shot and grew. I've totally revamped it. There's really no plot...I guess it's mostly O/E fluff. I dunno, I'm bad at summaries lol. Just read it and review it and me love you long time.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, I do not own these characters. I'm assuming Executive Producer Dick Wolf does. If not...well...I told you I didn't. No suing teh Mewkey please.

This started as a one-shot I wrote after reading some really BAD SVU fan fiction lol. The one shot grew into what you see before you. I'm pretty happy with it now.

If you've read this story before then you will note I've totally rewritten it. I've changed the order of the chapters, and I've rewritten the chapters just a tad. Not enough to change the overall story too very much, but enough to make it coherent at least. I hope you enjoy this new form. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Reviews make me oh so happy!

* * *

Olivia woke up and was suddenly hyper-aware of the body lying next to hers. She slid out from between the covers, her primary mission not to wake the sleeping man next to her. She dressed silently and tip-toed to the kitchen to make coffee.

_I have to end it. This can't go on. I know he loves me, but I can't be with him like this anymore._

Water began to drip through the coffee filter before Olivia put the carafe on the heating plate to catch it. She quickly slammed the pot into place and sighed, grabbing a dishcloth to wipe up the coffee dripping onto the floor.

_He knows I love him too._

She heard him get up then...stumbling around the bed like always...stomping into the bathroom. If there's one thing you can say about Elliot Stabler, it's that he's a slave to his routines.

_How can I do this? How can I let him go?_

Olivia knew she didn't have long to steel herself. He'd be in the bathroom five, maybe ten minutes. Then he'd be in her kitchen with her, nuzzling her hair as he grabbed a cup of coffee, hunting for his cell phone to make sure _she_ hadn't called during the night. Olivia took a deep, steadying breath as the coffee machine gurgled and hissed to a halt.

_I've got to be strong._

She heard the bang of the bathroom door and shot a nervous, hunted look at the bedroom. He walked out groggily, caught sight of her, and smiled. God, that smile! Her resolve almost wavered, almost left her completely.

Almost.

Elliot shuffled over to her and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"Mornin, Liv. Ahh, great, you got the coffee goin."

Elliot grabbed his favorite mug from her dish rack and filled it. He leaned against her sink and took a long sip, watching as she slipped her hands into her pockets and turned to face him. She avoided his eye, and he knew something was wrong.

"You ok?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "We need to talk."

Elliot's stomach clenched a little at her words. He could pretty much guess what was coming. They'd been arguing about it for a month now. He set his mug down and crossed his arms

"Ok," he said, "talk."

"This has to end. All the sneaking around, lying to Kathy and Captain Cragen, constantly looking over our shoulders...it's not us, El. You know it's not. We're better than this."

"We've had this discussion..."

"I know we have, but it's never been resolved. Look, you know I love you, but I can't be this person."

"What are you talking about, 'this person'? You're you...you're Olivia Benson. Circumstances don't make you a different person."

"Yes, El, they do. These circumstances...this affair...it's got to end. It's making us both into people I know we don't want to be."

"So what, we're just supposed to turn this off? Liv, I love you. I've loved you for years. I can't just turn this off."

"It's not any easier for me..."

"Yeah, well I can't help noticing you're the one telling me it's got to end!"

"You know I'm right. You know it's just too risky! We're risking our jobs...we're risking your kids for Christ's Sake!"

"Don't you dare. Don't you DARE bring my kids into this!"

"I have to! What do you think's gonna happen when Kathy finds out about us?"

"How's she going to find out about us, Liv? You gonna tell her? Or maybe you're gonna tell Cragen, huh? Let your little guilty conscience ruin both our fucking lives?"

"That's a low blow, Elliot..."

"No, bringing my kids into it was a low fucking blow, Olivia."

Olivia turned away from him, fighting simultaneous urges to punch him and to burst into tears. Elliot stood silently for a moment and sighed. He came up behind her, snaking his arms around her waist.

"I'm sorry..." he began, but she twisted away from him, turning angry eyes on him.

"No," she said. "No kisses, no holding each other, no touching, no nothing. This is it, Stabler. We're done."

Her words sank in slowly, and he felt tears spring to his eyes.

"Don't...don't do this to me, Liv. Honey, I love you. I _need_ you. Don't..."

"Stop. Just let me go."

With that, she grabbed her keys and cell phone and walked out the door...and out of his life.

..::**|~|**::..

When he got to the station, he was informed unceremoniously that Olivia had asked to be transferred back to Computer Crimes. She had already cleaned out her desk and locker before Cragen had even called to make the trade. When Elliot got to the squad room, it was as if Olivia had never even been there. He stood next to her desk at a loss for words, fighting to keep his composure.

"Stabler! My office! Now!"

The captain's words rang out through the squad room. Det. Fin Tutuola cast an appraising eye over Stabler.

"What the hell did you do now?" Fin asked.

Elliot didn't even look at Fin as he swept past his desk into Cragen's office.

"Would you mind telling me why one of my best detectives just transferred _herself_ to Computer Crimes?"

"I don't know," Elliot replied, evading the captain's glare.

"You don't know. You don't know why your partner stormed in here this morning, told me you were impossible to work with, requested a transfer, and had her desk cleared out before I even had a chance to get a word in? You don't know why she then stormed right back out of my squad room without so much as a backwards glance?"

"No sir."

"You better think of an answer fast, Stabler."

Elliot maintained a stoic silence, refusing to meet his captain's eye.

"Alright...you don't want to talk, I'm not going to force you. Frankly, I don't have the time to babysit every little tiff you and your _ex_-partner have. You're on desk duty until somebody tells me just what the hell's going on. Now get the hell out of my office."


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, I do not own these characters. I'm assuming Executive Producer Dick Wolf does. If not...well...I told you I didn't. No suing teh Mewkey please.

* * *

**One Year Later…**

It was strange how walking into the squad room after all this time felt so…natural. Without thinking about it, Olivia deposited her keys and purse on her old desk as she greeted the detectives she had once been close to.

"Might not want to put your stuff there, Benson," Det. John Munch said with a smirk as he gave her a quick hug hello. "New 'tec doesn't like her _space_ messed with."

"She's going to have to deal," Olivia replied, laughing. "That desk was mine before it was hers."

"So what brings you back to the one-six?"

"Cragen called me in to help TARU track a couple websites for a case. Apparently they need more computing power than they have access to."

"Well, it's nice to have you back," Fin said. "Squad ain't the same without ya, baby girl."

Fin engulfed her in a massive bear hug, and she glanced over his shoulder at the silent figure of her old partner. He hadn't said a word, hadn't even looked up, since she walked in. Olivia pulled away from Fin and walked over to Elliot's desk.

"How've you been?" she asked softly.

"Busy, since I finally got off desk duty a few months back."

Olivia stiffened a little, not missing his reproachful tone, and turned on her heel, gathering her things and stalking out of the room to meet the TARU tech she was supposed to be working with.

"See you later, Munch…Fin," she called over her shoulder.

..::**|~|**::..

Three days, two deleted child pornography websites, and about a ton of paperwork later, Olivia was back in the squad room saying goodbye. Elliot was conspicuously absent.

"You sure you gotta go, Liv?" Fin asked.

"Yep. Sorry, guys, one time only return engagement as a favor to an old friend." She smiled slightly as Capt. Cragen gave her a one-arm hug around the shoulders. "I'm a damn sight happier over at Computer Crimes anyway."

Lie…there hadn't been one night in the last 12 months she hadn't cried herself to sleep.

"Oh, come on Liv," said Munch. "You know you miss all the glamour."

"Nah. I've got all the glamour I can handle. Besides, if I left them to come back to you my new computer nerd friends would feel just as betrayed as you guys do now."

Lie…seeing as she hadn't so much as said good morning to any of the "computer nerds" since transferring…

"They'd get over it. We need you."

Olivia turned around slowly to see Elliot standing behind her, his face expressionless. He looked straight into her eyes, and she saw pain there. She faltered for a moment. She felt her resolve crumbling. The carefully-hidden strain of working so close to him, even for only three days, was threatening to overwhelm her. She had to get out of there. She knew what lay down the path those eyes were tempting her to follow, and she did not want to get caught up in it all again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking her head.

Elliot clenched his jaw slightly and walked out of the squad room toward the elevators. Olivia sighed, fighting to keep her composure.

"I…I've got to get going, guys. I'll see you around sometime, ok?"

There was a chorus of goodbyes behind her as she walked out of the squad room. By chance, Olivia happened to get to the elevators just as Elliot was getting on. He started to turn toward her, and she elected to take the stairs. She was walking so fast she ran into ADA Alexandra Cabot, nearly knocking her down.

"Whoa, hey, Benson, watch where you're going!"

"Sorry, Alex. I…I wasn't paying attention…"

Tears were beginning to spill down Olivia's cheeks.

"Hey, it's ok! No harm done, not even a broken heel. No need for the waterworks!"

"No, Alex, it's not this…it's…"

Olivia let out a small sob and pressed her hand to her mouth, fighting to regain control. Alex put a concerned hand on Olivia's shoulder.

"What is it, Liv? Is everything ok?"

"No, everything is not ok."

"What happened? Tell me."

"I saw Elliot and I damn near fell apart. I can't believe he can still do that to me."

"Olivia Benson loves hard and doesn't give up easily, we all know that. You don't have to beat yourself up over it."

"It's not just that. It's the fact that I know, deep down, he's the one. I thought I'd be ok working here for a couple days. I wasn't even going to be working with him directly, you know? But it's been harder than I thought it would be. Every time I saw him these last few days it's just reminded me that someone got him before I did. Not only that someone got him before I did, but that somehow in the middle of it I had him, and I gave him up!"

"You had to. It was adultery, Olivia. It was wrong, and you're both better than that. You did what you had to do."

"And what am I supposed to do now? God, a year later and it still feels like it just happened yesterday. I don't know how to get over this, and believe me I've tried."

Olivia's chest tightened a little as she fought to keep her voice down.

"Liv, hon…you can't keep doing this to yourself. I know it's tough but you'll pull through. You're pretty tough yourself…you'll make it."

"I've got to go…I can't talk about this anymore."

"Go home. Take a bath. Try to relax. Call me if you need me, ok?"

"Thanks, Alex."

As Alex turned to walk toward the squad room, she suddenly found herself face to face with Elliot. From the look in his eye, she knew he had heard everything Olivia had said.

They stood stock still for what seemed like an eternity, staring at one another. Elliot finally broke the staring contest and made a move to run down the stairs after Olivia. Alex put out a restraining hand.

"Don't go after her," Alex said. "Don't talk to her. Don't see her. Just forget everything you heard."

"How the hell am I supposed to forget all that?" Elliot replied evenly.

"Find a way. Believe me, Stabler, it's better for everyone if you just pretend you never heard that."

"Not going to happen, Counselor."

"What gives you the right to intrude on her private emotions?"

"I love her."

"Be that as it may, you're still married."

"No. As of 8:30 this morning, I'm not."

Elliot plunged a hand into his coat pocket, pulling out a tangle of official court documents. He threw them at Alex's feet before pushing past her and running down the stairs. She bent to pick them up, glancing through them.

It was Elliot's divorce decree.


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, I do not own these characters. I'm assuming Executive Producer Dick Wolf does. If not...well...I told you I didn't. No suing teh Mewkey please.

* * *

"What are you doing here, Elliot?"

"I had to see you."

Elliot threw his trench coat on her sofa and turned to face her, a burning hunger in his eyes.

"I heard what you said to Alex, Liv."

Olivia's eyes widened.

"How could you possibly have heard that? You were already in the elevator before I even saw Alex!"

"I got off the elevator and followed you. You were crying…I was upset…I couldn't let that be the last we ever said to one another. Before I caught up to you, you were already talking to Alex. I heard everything."

"How could you? How could you stand there and listen to a conversation you had no right to hear? How could you do this to me?"

"Does it matter now? Now that I know the truth?"

Elliot closed the distance between them in two strides and forcibly took Olivia in his arms. Before she could react he pressed his lips against hers, his right hand tangling itself in her hair, his left arm like iron around her waist. She struggled, knowing she could break away but unwilling to harm him in the process.

His scent filled her senses, warm and woody with a hint of Alpha Male, and she felt her resolve melting away. His grip on her waist loosened just slightly. She knew he was giving her a chance to get away, if she wanted to. She began to twist away, echoing the last time she had been in his arms, and then stopped herself. She couldn't believe what she was doing, but instead of twisting out of his grip she threw her arms around his neck, deepening their kiss.

After a moment they broke apart, gazing into each other's eyes. As the silence loomed between them, she decided she would have to be the one to break it.

"What about…?"

"That's finished," he broke in. "For good this time. She…she couldn't take it anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not."

He leaned in, cupping the sides of her face tenderly in his hands.

"I love you," he whispered into her mouth, brushing his lips against hers, "Please…I just want to give us a chance."

From his coat on the sofa…at the worst possible time…his cell phone blared to life. They both froze, their bodies suddenly tense and awkward against each other. He hesitated, his eyes searching hers. Reluctantly, he let her go and grabbed the phone.

She stared at his back as she listened to him taking information, hugging herself and fighting against the tears that had been threatening to spill down her cheeks for the past ten minutes. He flipped his phone closed with a vengeance and spun to face her.

"I have to go," he said shortly, throwing on his coat.

She nodded once and looked away, taking a step away from the door. As he passed her he stopped and put his finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"We're not finished here," he whispered, brushing a lock of her hair out of her face.

After a lingering, intensely penetrating stare, he let go and swept out of the apartment. She took a deep, steadying breath and stared at his retreating form…unsure what was going to happen but secretly excited to find out.

_**END**_


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